GV 

34-1 

H25p 


Physical  Training 

by 
Dr.   E.  M.    Hartwell 


A 


* 


PHYSICAL  TRAINING 


.\\    AVil:.KICA.\    AND    l:UROPI:AN 
OINTS  OF  VII- \V 


Bv  L)i^.  H.  A\.  HARTVXHI.I  . 


iliar?, 
•i   < 


PHYSICAL  TRAINING. 


The  Sun  has  done  me  the  compliment  to  ask  for  some 
account  of  my  journeying  and  studies  during  my  stay  in 
Europe,  from  the  middle  of  May,  1888,  until  the  end  of 
August,  1889.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  I  can  better  serve 
the  cause  of  physical  training,  in  which  the  public  is  begin- 
ning to  take  a  livelier  and  more  intelligent  interest  than 
hitherto,  by  foregoing  any  attempt  to  give  an  itinerary  or 
description  of  my  travels  and  observations,  however  interest- 
ing and  instructive  they  were  to  myself,  and  by  attempting 
to  set  forth,  in  as  impersonal  a  way  as  possible,  some  of  the 
conclusions  at  which  I  have  arrived  as  the  result  of  my  per- 
sonal study  of  gymnasia,  play-grounds,  public  and  military 
schools,  and  orthopaedic  institutes  in  America,  as  well  as  in 
England,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Russia,  and  Sweden,  and  to 
note  some  of  the  problems  with  regard  to  physical  training 
which  are  occupying  or  seem  likely  soon  to  occupy  the 
attention  of  educators  in  Baltimore,  as  well  as  in  other  parts 
of  the  country. 

As  I  shall  not  cumber  what  I  have  to  say  with  refer- 
ences to  authorities,  or  with  my  reasons  for  what  may  appear 
to  be  unsupported  and  arbitrary  opinions,  it  seems  proper 
for  me  to  state  that,  before  I  was  enabled  to  devote  some 
months  to  the  study  of  athletics  and  gymnastics  in  England 

d  (iermanv.  in    i8Sr,,  I    had    had   occasion    to   visit    all    the 


P.  E.   KEN 


THE    BOSTON    CONFERENCE. 

The  most  recent  and  convincing  evidence  that  public 
attention  is  becoming  awakened  and  instructed  in  matters 
pertaining  to  physical  training  is  afforded  by  the  Confer- 
ence on  Physical  Training  held  in  Boston  on  the  last  two 
days  of  the  Thanksgiving  recess.  It  was,  as  the  special 
despatches  to  the  Sun  have  already  shown  to  its  readers,  a 
notable  occasion.  But  it  was  something  more.  It  was  the 
most  important  meeting  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  this  country. 
Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion, presided  over  its  deliberations.  The  call  for  it  was 
signed  by  John  W.  Dickinson,  Secretary  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Board  of  Education  ;  E.  P.  Senver,  Superintendent  of 
the  Boston  public  schools  ;  Francis  A.  Walker,  President  of 
the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology;  and  by  the  presi- 
dents of  Boston  University,  Colby  University,  Maine,  and 
Wellesley  College,  as  well  as  by  many  members  of  the 
Boston  school  committee  and  a  large  number  of  physicians 
and  others  who  are  prominent  in  educational  circles  in  that 
city.  Although  the  Massachusetts  Teachers'  Association 
was  in  session  in  the  city  at  the  same  time,  the  audience  at 
each  of  the  four  sessions  of  the  conference  numbered  from 
fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  persons.  The  major  part 
of  the  audience  consisted,  doubtless,  of  Boston  and  Massa- 
chusetts normal  and  public  school  teachers;  but  Xew  York, 
Baltimore,  Brooklyn,  and  Washington,  and  other  cities  also, 
were  represented.  So,  too,  were  Harvard,  Yale,  and  Johns 
Hopkins  Universities,  and  Amherst,  Haverford,  and  Bow- 
doin  Colleges  for  men,  and  Yassar,  Smith,  Wellesley.  Bryn 
Mawr,  and  the  Woman's  College  of  Baltimore  for  women. 


The  programme,  which  embraced  papers,  discussions,  and 
illustrative  class  exercises  in  gymnastics,  was  a  varied  and 
interesting  one,  and  served  not  only  to  set  forth  the  general 
nature  and  effects  of  muscular  exercise,  the  salient  princi- 


5 

pies  and  characteristic  methods  of  the  German  and  Swedish 
and  so-called  "American"  systems  of  school  gymnastics, 
but  also  to  call  attention  in  a  most  striking  way  to  the  great 
progress  made  within  recent  years  in  the  construction  and 
management  of  college  gymnasia,  and  to  the  rapid  and  suc- 
cessful spread  of  gymnastic  training  in  the  public  schools  of 
many  of  our  Western  towns  and  cities.  The  Earl  of  Meath, 
who  is  a  member  of  the  newly  organixad  London  council, 
spoke  of  the  good  results  of  the  recent  introduction  of 
Swedish  gymnastics  into  the  board  schools  of  London  ;  and 
Baron  de  Coubertin,  sent  by  the  French  government  to 
this  country  to  study  our  school  and  college  athletics  and 
gymnastics,  read  a  paper  upon  recent  efforts  to  transplant 
English  out-of-door  sports  into  French  schools  for  boys. 

OXi'.    PRACnCAI,    RKSULT. 

The  immediate  practical  result  of  the  conference  was  the 
appointment  of  a  commissiou  to  consider  and  report  on  the 
best  means  of  providing  for  the  physical  training  of  school 
children.  Inasmuch  as  the  papers  presented  and  the  fully 
reported  discussion  will  be  published  for  wide  distribution, 
the  conference  is  likely  to  have  more  than  a  transitory  in- 
fluence, and  to  stimulate  discussion,  not  to  say  controversy. 
Even  before  the  conference  took  place,  the  partisans  of 
various  systems  of  teaching  gymnastics  were  engaged  in 
lively  skirmishing  in  the  Boston  newspapers:  but,  both  at 
and  before  the  conference,  all  seemed  unanimous  in  the 
opinion  that  physical  training  of  some  sort  is  urgently 
needed  in  school  and  college.  This  is  most  encouraging,  as 
it  shows  that  the  athletic  revival,  which  had  its  beginnings 
at  the  close  of  the  war.  and  the  work  done  by  the  colleges 
within  the  last  ten  years  in  promoting  athletics  and  gym- 
nastics, have  begun  to  bear  fruit.  The  conference,  therefore, 
makes  the  beginning  of  a  new  phase  in  the  attitude  of  edu- 
cators toward  physical  training:  namely,  a  phase  in  which 
the  desire  and  purpose  to  learn  ami  applv  the  best  methods 
of  teaching  children  and  youth  how  to  make  the  most  of  their 


physical  powers  takes  the  place  of  indifference  to,  or  at  the 
best  of  a  qualified  approval  of,  bodily  education,  and  vague 
and  unintelligent  exhortations  as  to  its  pursuit.  The  main 
lesson  of  the  conference,  whether  for  Boston,  New  York,  or 
Baltimore,  is  this, —  that  physical  training  is  better  under- 
stood, more  generally  and  thoroughly  organized,  and  more 
intelligently  and  successfully  carried  out  in  almost  all  Euro- 
pean countries  than  is  the  case  in  any  city  or  college  in 
America,  and  is,  therefore,  worthy  of  our  close  and  careful 
study. 

NO    AMERICAN    SYSTEM. 

There  have  been  several  sporadic  and  spasmodic  attempts 
in  this  country,  within  the  last  fifty  years,  to  develop  schemes 
for  the  systematic  bodily  training  of  school  children  and 
college  youth.  But  not  only  does  no  one  of  them  deserve  to 
be  dignified  by  the  high-sounding  title  of  "  the  American 
system,"  but  it  can  be  shown  that  the  best  considered  and 
successful  of  such  attempts  havt  been  more  or  less  carefully 
modelled  on  European  systems. —  notably  the  German. 
Prior  to  1825,  physical  training  in  its  proper  sense  had  no 
recognition  or  standing  in  the  curriculum  of  any  school  or 
college, —  if  we  except  the  United  States  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point  and  a  very  few  institutions  modelled  on  it. 
The  germ  of  such  physical  training  as  now  exists  in  many  of 
our  colleges  came  from  abroad,  and  was  planted  by  German 
exiles  in  New  England  soil. 

THE    ROrXD    HILL    SCHOOL. 

The  Round  Hill  School,  at  Northampton,  Mass.,  was  the 
first  institution  in  the  country  to  make  gymnastic  exercise  a 
pan  of  the  regular  course  of  instruction.  Tin's  was  in  1825, 
when  the  Round  Mill  Gvmnasium  was  erected  under  the 
supervision  of  Dr.  Beck,  who  had  been  the  friend  and  pupil 
of  Jahn,  the  '•  Eather  of  German  Gymnastics.'''  In  New 
England,  between  1825  and  1830,  most  of  the  colleges  and 
many  schools  and  academies  imitated  Round  Mill,  and 


established  out-of-door  gymnasia.  But  the  interest  was  un- 
intelligent, competent  teachers  were  few  or  none,  and  the 
movement  soon  spent  its  force.  There  appears  to  have  been 
no  well-considered  and  sustained  attempt  by  the  authorities 
of  any  American  college  or  of  any  set  of  public  schools  to 
provide  their  pupils  either  with  instruction  in  gymnastics  or 
adequate  facilities  for  athletic  sports  during  the  period  ex- 
tending between  1830  and  1X60. 


Just  before  and  just  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  1861, 
a  great  interest  sprang  up,  especially  among  college  students, 
in  regard  to  gymnastics,  feats  of  strength,  and  athletic  sports, 
The  writings  and  teachings  of  I)r.  Winship,  the  champion  of 
heavy  lifting,  of  "Tom  Brown,"  and  of  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  con- 
tributed to  stimulate  and  strengthen  this  interest.  This, 
which  may  be  termed  the  Lewis  or  light  gymnastic  move- 
ment, was  instrumental  in  causing  the  erection  of  a  consid- 
erable number  of  school  and  college  gymnasia,  and  the  in- 
auguration of  a  few  poorly  endowed  and  rudely  organized 
departments  of  physical  culture  :  but  the  movement  was 
short-lived,  and  schemes  for  physical  training  assumed  a  semi- 
military  character.  It  should,  however,  be  said  in  passing 
that  Amherst  College,  in  Massachusetts,  ever  since  1860  has 
required  class  exercises  in  light  gymnastics  of  all  its  able- 
bodied  students,  and  that  military  drill  for  all  but  the 
youngest  boys  has  constituted  a  part  of  the  teaching  of  the 
boys  in  the  high  schools  of  Boston  since  1863. 


The  worth  of  a  good  physique  and  the  educational  value 
of  a  physical  training  were  most  clearly  demonstrated  and 
sharply  emphasixed  by  the  lessons  of  the  late  \vai.  The  un- 
exampled interest  and  activitv  in  athletic  sp«rts  developed 
since  the  close  of  the  war  have  contributed  most  materially 
toward  the  promotion  and  appreciation  of  physical  training. 


College  athletics,  with  their  concomitant  intercollegiate  con- 
tests, have  assumed  such  magnitude  that  it  is  quite  the  fash- 
ion to  speak  of  many  colleges  as  if  they  were  schools  for 
forming  ball-players,  oarsmen,  and  athletes.  There  would 
be  more  point  to  such  satire  if  the  interest  in  athletics,  which 
seems  to  deepen  and  strengthen  year  by  year,  were  confined 
to  the  student  class  instead  of  pervading  the  community  as  a 
whole.  Exhibitions  and  contests  of  every  description,  which 
would  not  have  been  licensed  or  tolerated,  much  less  pecu- 
niarily supported,  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  now  yield  quick 
and  large  returns  in  popularity  and  cash  to  their  promoters. 

HARVARD'S  PHYSICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Xext  to  the  athletic  revival,  the  cause  of  physical  educa- 
tion in  America  has  received  its  greatest  impetus,  in  recent 
years  at  least,  from  the  organization  by  Harvard  University, 
in  1879,  of  a  new  department  of  physical  training  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Hemenway  Gymnasium,  for  whose  direction  and 
equipment  Mr.  Augustus  Hemenway,  of  Boston,  and  a  grad- 
uate of  Harvard  in  1876,  gave  the  sum  of  $115,000.  To  Dr. 
I).  A.  Sargent,  the  director  of  the  Hemenway  Gymnasium 
since  its  opening  ten  years  ago,  we  owe  the  invention  of  the 
so-called  Sargent  system  of  developing  gymnastics.  The 
Sargent  system,  which  in  its  original  or  modified  forms  has 
been  adopted  in  most  of  the  college  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  gym- 
nasia of  the  country,  is  the  most  original  contribution  that 
America  has  made  to  the  cause  of  physical  training.  The 
Sargent  gymnastic  machines,  numbering  nearly  sixty,  employ 
the  so-called  "  pulley-weights  "  in  variously  modified  combi- 
nations, so  as  to  call  certain  groups  of  muscles  into  action, 
while  little  or  no  muscular  exertion  is  called  for  in  the  rest 
of  the  body.  By  the  use  of  these  machines  one  can  exercise 
his  back,  loins,  thigh,  forearm,  arm  or  hand  muscles,  accord- 
ing as  his  own  taste  or  the  opinion  and  advice  of  his  in- 
structor may  dictate.  The  director  of  every  gymnasium, 
where  the  Sargent  system  is  in  vogue,  habitually  makes  a 
careful  physical  examination,  in  which  arc  included  tests  of 


strength  of  back,  legs,  arms,  and  hand,  and  some  forty  items 
of  measurement  as  to  length,  girth,  etc.,  of  different  parts  of 
the  body.  The  measurements  of  each  individual  examined 
are  compared  with  what  is  considered  the  standard  for  per- 
sons of  his  age,  and  exercise  on  such  machines  as  will  tend 
to  remedy  his  defects  and  promote  symmetrical  growth  and 
harmonious  development  is  prescribed.  The  Sargent  gym- 
nastics are  medical  or  dietetic  rather  than  strictly  educative 
in  their  aims  and  results,  since  individual  lacks  and  needs  are 
most  considered  ;  and  none  of  the  Sargent  machines,  with  the 
sole  exception  of  the  ''chest  weight,''  can  be  used  for  class 
purposes.  Dr.  Sargent's  idea  of  scientifically  directing  and 
controlling  gymnastics  and  athletic  work  is  thoroughly  ad- 
mirable and  practical ;  but  the  effect  of  using  the  Sargent 
apparatus  stops  short  of  muscular  development  in  its  higher 
sense,  since  by  means  of  "pulley  weights"  it  is  possible  only 
to  enlarge  and  strengthen  the  muscles,  without  teaching  skill 
and  discrimination  to  the  nerve  centres  with  which  the  mus- 
cles are  connected  and  by  which  they  are  animated  and 
controlled.  The  Sargent  machines,  then,  fail  to  provide  a 
complete  system  of  physical  training.  Their  use  promotes 
the  healthy  nutrition  of  muscles,  nerves,  and  brain,  but  does 
not  tend  to  develop  sleight  or  skill  except  in  a  rudimentary 
way. 

In  the  ten  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  completion  of 
the  Hemenway  Gymnasium,  more  than  a  half  million  dol- 
lars have  been  spent  in  building  and  furnishing  college  and 
school  gymnasia  ;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  seven-tenths  ot 
all  the  gymnasia  of  the  country  one  would  find  larger  or 
smaller  collections  of  the  Sargent  developing  appliances. 
Some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  have  also  been  ex- 
pended in  the  purchase  and  improvement  of  play-grounds 
and  athletic  fields  for  the  use  of  students  in  school  and  col- 
lege. Yale,  Cornell,  Bowdoin,  Haverford.  Lafayette,  Lehigh. 
the  Johns  Hopkins,  Yanderbilt,  the  L'niversity  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Gettysburg  College,  among  institutions  for  men. 
and  Yassar,  Hryn  Mawr,  and  the  Woman's  College  of  Haiti- 


IO 

more,  among  institutions  for  women,  have  followed  the  ex- 
ample set  by  Amherst  College  in  1860,  and  reset  by  Harvard 
in  1879,  by  choosing  physicians  as  directors  of  their  gym- 
nasia. 

A    NUMBER    OF    ELABORATE    BUILDINGS. 

The  Hemenway  Gymnasium  is  still  the  finest  building  in 
the  country,  devoted  solely  to  gymnastic  purposes.  The 
buildings  of  the  New  York  Athletic  Club,  the  Boston  Ath- 
letic Club,  and  those  of  the  athletic  clubs  of  San  Francisco 
and  New  Orleans  are  all  elaborate  and  costly  structures,  in 
which  are  combined  the  feature  of  an  ordinary  club  house, 
together  with  gymnasia,  bowling  alleys,  shooting  galleries» 
and  Turkish  baths.  Of  these,  the  building  of  the  New  York 
Athletic  Club,  erected  at  an  expense  of  $250,000,  is  the  cost- 
liest. The  Central  Turnverein  of  New  York  has  recently 
completed  a  building  whose  cost,  including  the  lot  upon 
which  it  stands,  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  $800,000.  The 
club  features  of  the  latter,  which  are  of  a  distinctly  German 
character,  differ  somewhat  from  those  of  the  above-mentioned 
athletic  clubs.  Besides  a  swimming  pool,  bowling  and 
shooting  galleries,  a  magnificent  hall  and  stage,  and  a  fine 
gymnasium,  the  building  of  the  Central  Turnverein  includes 
a  number  of  spacious  and  well-lighted  rooms,  which  will  be 
devoted  to  manual  training  and  ordinary  school  purposes. 

ENCOURAGE  THE  TEACHERS. 

Yet  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  expended  on  grounds, 
building,  and  apparatus  since  1879,  the  vast  majority  of  our 
school  and  college  gymnasia  are  but  rudely  organized,  and 
have  accomplished  very  little  in  the  way  of  training  those 
who  frequent  them.  We  Americans  are  enamoured  of  fine 
buildings  and  costly  fittings  and  furniture,  but  have  hitherto 
wofully  failed  to  organize  and  maintain  anything  like  an 
adequate  force  of  teachers  and  trainers  in  the  field  of  bodily 
education.  Where  scores  of  thousands  of  dollars  are  lav- 
ished upon  buildings  and  apparatus  by  donors  and  trustees, 


II 

you  will  find  the  appropriations  devoted  to  the  purposes  of 
instruction  measured  by  beggarly  hundreds.  In  Germany. 
Switzerland,  Norway,  and  Sweden,  vastly  better  results  are 
attained,  often  with  appliances  and  conveniences  that  would 
provoke  our  scorn,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  brains  are 
more  highly  considered  in  those  countries  than  brick  and 
mortar  and  machinery.  Systematic  instruction  by  compe- 
tent teachers  is  considered  of  prime  importance,  and  is  paid 
for  accordingly.  The  results  more  than  justify  the  outlay. 

THE    GERMAN    1'LAX. 

It  would  be  interesting,  did  space  permit,  to  trace  the 
development  of  physical  training  in  Germany  and  Sweden. 
the  countries  where  it  is  most  general  and  most  highly  organ- 
ized ;  but  a  general  statement,  by  way  of  explanation  and 
comparison,  must  here  sut'tice.  German  gymnastics  embrace 
three  well-marked  fields  or  departments  ;  namely,  popular 
gymnastics,  school  gymnastics,  and  military  gymnastics.  The 
organization  of  the  last  two  departments  is  maintained  and 
regulated  by  the  government  for  strictly  educational  pur- 
poses, whereas  the  Turnvereine,  as  the  gymnastic  societies 
are  called,  are  voluntary  associations  of  a  social  and  semi- 
educational,  but  wholly  popular  and  patriotic  nature.  In 
each  department,  one  finds  a  system  of  carefully  selected 
exercises  in  use.  These  exercises,  which  consist  of  free 
movements,  without  apparatus,  and  class  exercises,  in  which 
both  light  and  heavy  apparatus  are  employed,  are  arranged 
in  a  progressive  series,  so  that  they  may  be  adapted  to  meel 
the  special  needs,  physical  and  mental,  of  the  younger  boys 
and  girls,  and  of  the  raw  recruit  and  old  soldier,  respectively. 
In  school  and  army,  the  instruction  is  committed  to  carefullv 
trained  and  specially  licensed  teachers  only.  The  Military 
Gymnastic  Institute  in  Berlin  dates  from  1851,  and  is  de- 
voted to  the  gymnastic  training  of  army  officers,  in  order 
that  they  may  be  able  to  give  intelligent  instruction  to  their 
men.  The  classes  in  this  institute  number  about  two  hun- 
dred vearlv. 


12 


FOR    THE    INSTRUCTION    OF    TEACHERS. 

The  Royal  Prussian  Institute  for  Training  Teachers  of 
Gymnastics  is  also  in  Berlin,  and  dates  from  1851.  Its 
function  is  to  train  teachers  of  gymnastics  for  the  schools. 
It  holds  two  courses  annually,  one  for  men  and  one  for 
women.  Similar  training-schools  exist  in  Dresden,  Munich, 
Stuttgart,  and  Carlsruhe.  Gymnastic  training  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  Prussian  higher  schools  for  boys  in  1842.  In 
1860.  it  was  ordered  to  be  introduced  into  the  elementary 
schools  for  boys;  and  in  1862  attendance  upon  such  instruc- 
tion was  made  obligatory  in  all  boys'  schools.  In  recent 
years,  gymnastics  have  become  quite  general  in  girls'  schools 
of  all  grades.  Attendance  upon  gymnastic  instruction  is 
exacted  from  all  unexcused  pupils  for  two  hours  weekly  in  all 
schools  for  boys,  and  also  in  some  cities  in  all  schools  for 
girls.  As  a  rule,  each  school  has  its  own  gymnasium  and 
play-ground,  furnished  with  appropriate  apparatus.  In  the 
primary  schools,  the  instruction  is  given  by  the  ordinary 
class  teachers;  while  in  the  higher  schools  special  teachers 
of  gymnastics  are  usually  employed.  In  1882,  only  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  pupils  in  the  higher  schools  for  boys  in  Prussia 
were  excused  from  gymnastics  ;  and  they  were  excused  on 
the  certificates  of  physicians  that  the  exercise  would  be 
prejudicial  to  their  health.  Only  eighteen  per  cent,  of  this 
class  of  schools  were  obliged  to  discontinue  gymnastics  in 
winter  through  havuig  no  proper  gymnasium,  while  sixty  per 
cent,  of  them  possessed  gymnasia  of  their  own.  In  parts  of 
Germany,  as  well  as  in  Sweden,  gymnastics  are  also  taught 
in  asylums  for  the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  the  insane. 
in  Berlin,  more  than  one  hundred  gymnasia  are  maintained 
for  educational  purposes.  In  1880-81,  the  city  paid  nearly 
850,000  for  the  instruction  given  its  school  children  in  gym- 
nastics, which  sum  equalled  about  one-twenty-third  of  its 
t>)tal  expenditures  for  schools  in  that  year.  The  City  Gym- 
nasium in  Berlin  was  built  by  the  city  in  1864,  at  a  total  cost 
of  $92.750.  Its  main  hall  is  150  feet  long,  75  feet  wide,  and 


48  feet  high,  and  easily  accommodates  400  gymnasts  at  a 
time.  In  all,  something  over  13,000  persons  exercise  here 
weekly.  The  annual  appropriation  for  its  maintenance,  ex- 
clusive of  salaries,  is  between  $2,500  and  $3,000. 

THK    DEUTSCHE    TURNKRSi  HAFT. 

The  Turnvereine,  in  Germany  and  Austria,  are  organi/ed 
as  the  Deutsche  Turnerschaft.  On  fan.  i,  1889,  the  Turner- 
schaft  comprised  4,305  clubs,  with  an  aggregate  membership 
of  366,915  persons  over  fourteen  years  of  age,  of  whom  more 
than  189,000  were  active  gymnasts,  and  18,643  were  classed 
as  "fore-turners,"  or  "expert  gymnasts"  fit  to  teach  the 
younger  members.  The  number  of  pupils  taught  gymnastics, 
in  gymnasia  of  the  Turnerschaft,  was  nearly  50,000,  an  in- 
crease of  more  than  7  per  cent,  over  the  year  before.  It  is 
almost  as  common  to  find  Turnvereine  among  Germans  in 
foreign  lands  as  to  find  cricket  and  tennis  clubs  among 
British  colonists.  Turnvereine  flourish  in  this  countrv, 
Bra/il,  Chili,  and  Australia,  as  well  as  in  every  country  in 
Europe.  Switzerland,  Belgium,  and  Austria  have  organi/ed 
systems  of  school  gymnastics  which  are  very  similar  to  the 
German  ;  and  France  is  endeavoring  to  introduce  such  a 
system. 

NORWAY    A NI)    SWEDEN. 

In  Norway  and  Sweden,  popular  gymnastics  are  less  com- 
mon than  in  Germany;  but  school  and  military  gymnastics 
have  long  been  fullv  organi/ed,  and  are  obligatory.  The 
teachers  of  school  gymnastics  in  Sweden  are  as  a  class 
superior  to  those  in  Germany,  being  more  thoroughly  trained 
for  their  business.  Accordingly,  the  effects  of  gymnastic 
training  in  the  schools  are  more  clearly  discernible  in  the 
grace,  vigor,  and  erectness  of  the  Swedish  children.  The 
Royal  Central  Gymnastic  Institute,  in  Stockholm,  founded 
in  1813,  is  the  best  in  the  world  for  training  teachers  ot 
gymnastics.  Its  graduates  are  also  fitted  to  practise  the 
Swedish  medical  iivmnastics.  Since  the  Swedes  are  not 


14 

only  less  prominent  in  European  affairs,  but  also  because 
they  are  less  enterprising  and  aggressive,  the  Swedish  system 
of  school  gymnastics  has  not  gained  such  wide  recognition 
as  the  German.  On  some  accounts,  the  Swedish  school 
gymnastics  seem  to  me  to  be,  perhaps,  better  adapted  than 
the  German  for  the  bodily  education  of  the  younger  classes; 
and  I  should  say  that  a  Swedish  gymnasium  would  cost 
somewhat  less  than  a  similar  building  in  Germany.  In  Eng- 
land, the  Swedish  gymnastics  are  now  taught  in  the  board 
schools  of  London,  Leeds,  and  Bristol,  and  in  a  large  num- 
ber of  British  schools  and  colleges  for  girls. 

SWEDISH    SYSTEM    IN    AMERICA. 

Within  a  year,  Swedish  school  gymnastics  have  attracted 
considerable  attention  in  this  country,  owing  to  the  gen- 
erosity and  public  spirit  of  Mrs.  Hemenway,  of  Boston, 
whose  son,  by  the  way,  gave  the  Hemenway  Gymnasium  to 
Harvard.  Mrs.  Hemenway,  having  secured  the  services  of 
a  thoroughly  trained  Swedish  teacher,  has  classes  of  200 
teachers  selected  from  the  Boston  public  schools,  under 
thorough-going  instruction  in  Swedi-sh  gymnastics.  Mrs. 
Hemenway  generously  bears  the  expense  of  training  these 
classes,  and  has  also  provided  means  for  the  experimental 
training  in  gymnastics  of  the  pupils  in  the  Girls'  Normal 
School  of  Boston.  The  results  of  these  Boston  experiments 
cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  and  instructive. 

MEDICAL    GYMNASTICS. 

The  most  interesting  and  valuable  branch  of  Swedish 
gymnastics  —  namely,  the  medical  gymnastics,  sometimes 
called  the  Swedish  movement  treatment  —  is  very  little  under- 
stood or  appreciated  in  this  country  or  in  England,  though 
it  has  gained  wide  recognition  not  only  in  Scandinavia,  but 
also  in  Germany.  Dr.  /ander,  of  Stockholm,  has  invented 
a  series  of  some  sixtv  different  machines,  whereby  it  is  pos- 
sible to  reproduce  most  of  the  movements  employed  by  the 


Swedish  medical  gymnasts  in  the  treatment  of  various 
deformities  and  chronic  ailments.  The  original  Zander 
Medico-Mechanical  Institute  has  been  in  successful  opera- 
tion for  more  than  twenty  years,  in  Stockholm,  under  the 
direction  of  its  founder,  who  is  a  scientific  physician  of  high 
standing.  Zander  institutes  are  also  to  be  found  in  the 
principal  cities  of  Xorway  and  Sweden  and  Finland,  and  in 
St.  Petersburg  and  London  besides.  In  Germany  their 
number  has  increased  rapidly  since  1884,  when  the  first  of 
the  kind  was  established  by  the  government  of  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Baden,  under  Dr.  Heiligenthal,  the  director  of  the 
"  Grand  Ducal  Frederick's  Bath  "  in  Baden-Baden.  Zander 
institutes  now  exist  in  Berlin,  Hamburg,  Carlsruhe,  Breslau, 
Wiesbaden,  Dresden,  and  Frankfort-on-the-Main.  The  only 
complete  set  of  the  Zander  machines  in  America  belongs  to 
Dr.  Oberg's  Institute,  in  Buenos  Ayres.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  projected  Zander  Institute  in  Xew  York  City  will 
be  so  organi/ed  as  to  commend  the  Zander  gymnastics  to 
the  critical  and  favorable  notice  of  American  phvsicians 
and  surgeons.  The  Woman's  College  of  Baltimore,  on  St. 
Paul  Street,  has  fitted  its  gymnasiuum  with  Swedish  appa- 
ratus, including  a  set  of  the  Zander  machines  for  "active 
movements.''  These,  though  better  adapted  than  the  Sar- 
gent machines  for  the  purposes  of  purely  developing  exer- 
cises, are,  on  account  of  their  costliness,  not  likely  to  be 
generally  adopted  in  American  gymnasia.  At  present,  the 
Woman's  College  gymnasium  is  the  only  one  in  the  country 
that  possesses  even  a  partial  set  of  the  Zander  machines, 
a  full  set  of  which  includes  machines  tor  strict'. v  "medical 
movements,"  and  requires  steam  or  water  power  to  run  them. 
Of  the  country  as  a  whole,  it  may  be  sai  1  th.it  c- 'lieges  of 
the  Fast  make  ampler  and  wi>er  provisions  for  the  phvsical 
training  of  their  students  than  do  similar  institutions  of  t!u- 
YYi'St  and  South,  and  that  more  is  done  for  the  physical 
training  of  children  in  public  and  pn\a:e  schools  in  the 
West  than  in  anv  other  section  of  the  countrv.  Baltimore. 


i6 

the  bodily  education  of  its  school  children.  German  gym- 
nastics, both  for  boys  and  girls,  are  well  taught  by  Director 
Schulz,  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Gymna- 
sium, who  is  an  accomplished  teacher,  and  a  graduate  of  the 
Normal  School  of  the  X.  A.  Turnerbund  ;  but  thoroughgoing, 
genuine  physical  training  is  not  to  be  found  in  most  of 
our  private  schools,  whether  for  boys  or  girls.  The  best 
equipped  and  organized  gymnasium  for  girls  and  women  in 
the  entire  country,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  is  the  previously- 
mentioned  gymnasium  of  the  Woman's  College.  Dr.  Alice 
T.  Hall,  its  directress,  has  studied  the  Swedish  and  German 
systems  in  Stockholm  and  Berlin ;  and  Miss  Wallin,  her 
assistant,  is  both  an  experienced  teacher  and  a  graduate  of 
the  Royal  Central  Gymnastic  Institute  in  Stockholm.  I 
venture  to  predict  a  brilliant  future  for  the  Woman's  College 
Gymnasium,  and  for  that  of  the  New  Bryn  Mawr  School  for 
Girls  as  well,  whose  directress,  Dr.  Hard,  is  now  in  Stock- 
holm, studying  Swedish  methods  and  results. 

THE    JOHNS    HOi'KINS    GYMNASIUM. 

The  Johns  Hopkins  gymnasium  is  too  small  to  admit  of 
being  fully  fitted  and  furnished  after  the  latest  and  best 
approved  methods.  Its  organization  has  been  measurably 
improved  since  its  establishment ;  and  class  instruction  in 
Swedish  and  German  gymnastics  is  now  offered  to  all  uni- 
versity students,  the  undergraduates  being  required  to  avail 
themselves  of  such  instruction.  Next  to  a  well-considered 
and  practical  system  of  gymnastics  for  her  schools,  the 
greatest  presc'nt  need  of  Baltimore,  in  the  matter  of  physical 
training,  now  that  she  may  be  said  to  lead  the  country  as  to 
a  gymnasium  for  women,  seems  to  me  to  be  a  commodious 
and  well-equipped  modern  gymnasium  for  the  promotion  of 
recreation,  health,  and  bodily  training  among  boys  and 
young  men  of  the  '•neglected  upper  class." 


THK    ITr.I.IC    SCHOOLS. 

As  has  been  stated  already,  physical  training  has  been 
given  a  place  in  the  public  schools,  in  many  of  our  Western 
cities.  This  has  been  chielly  owing  to  the  efforts  and  ex- 
ample of  the  North  American  Turnerbund.  The  Turner- 
bund  or  Gymnastic  Association  owes  its  existence  to  the 
foundation  of  Turnvereine  by  the  political  refugees  who  came 
to  this  country  from  Germany  in  i,S(.S.  The  last  report  of 
the  Turnerbund  shows  that  it  had  a  total  membership  on 
April  i,  iSSi),  of  31,81)9.  Its  property  free  from  debt  was 
valued  at  52,390,000,  including  160  gymnasia  and  libraries 
aggregating  53.000  volumes.  In  the  gymnastic  schools 
maintained  by  the  Bund,  the  number  of  pupils  was  nearlv 
22,000,  of  which  6,055  were  girls.  The  Bund's  corps  of 
gymnastic  teachers  number  140,  most  of  whom  were  trained 
as  teachers  in  the  normal  school  of  the  Bund,  which  has 
graduated  some  250  teachers  in  the  last  twenty-five  years. 
I  need  hardlv  say  that  there  is  no  other  body  of  teachers  in 
the  country  who  can  be  compared  for  efficiency  with  those 
of  the  Turnerbund.  The  instruction  given  in  the  gymnastic 
schools  is  not  confined  to  gymnastics.  The  Xew  ^\  irk 
Turnverein,  for  instance,  has  nearly  1,000  boys  and  girl-- 
in its  classes.  They  receive  two  lessons  of  an  hour  ea  h  in 
gymnastics  weekly,  two  in  German,  one  in  singing,  one  in 
drawing,  and  the  girls  have  one  hour's  instruction  in  sewing. 
knitting,  etc.  Ninety  of  the  boys  are  organi/ed  as  a  battal- 
ion for  military  drill.  They  drill  once  a  week,  and  pr.c  ;>e 
target-shooting  as  well  as  marching  and  the  manual  "i'  arms. 
Kenein"  is  generallv  taught  in  the  Yeix-me. 


In  October,  iSs1;,  light  gymnastics  were  made  obligatory 
throughout  all  grades  of  the  pubkc  schools  o;  kansa^  I 'ity. 
Chicago  scon  followed  the  example  :-et  bv  l\an.-as  Citv. 
In  Chicago.  14  special  teachers,  trained  ao 


1 8 

methods  of  the  Turnerbund,  give  instruction  in  the  high  and 
grammar  schools  and  oversee  the  insruction  given  by  the 
teachers  of  the  primary  school  to  their  own  classes.  The 
salaries  paid  to  the  Chicago  teachers  of  gymnastics  range 
from  ?75o  to  $1,800  a  year.  In  Omaha,  Neb.,  St.  Joseph, 
Mo.,  Canton,  Ohio,  Denver,  Col.,  and  Louisville,  Ky.,  the 
Chicago  plan  of  having  special  teachers  has  been  adopted. 
While  the  Kansas  City  plan  of  having  a  director  of  physical 
training,  through  whose  instruction  the  teachers  in  the 
schools  are  enabled  to  give  gymnastic  instruction  to  their 
classes,  has  been  followed  in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  Pittsburg  and  McKeesport,  Pa.,  Davenport  and  Keo- 
kuk,  la.,  Rock  Island  and  Cairo,  111.,  and  a  long  list  of 
smaller  towns  in  Kansas,  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  Indiana. 
German  gymnastics,  according  to  one  or  the  other  of  the 
above-mentioned  plans,  are  now  taught  in  the  schools  of 
towns  and  cities  in  the  West  whose  school  population 
amounts  to  nearly  400.000.  This  is  a  showing  which  the 
school  boards  and  teachers  of  the  East  cannot  afford  to 
ignore  or  affect  to  minimize. 

A    COMING    I'KOni.EM. 

The  time  is  coming,  is  possibly  near  at  hand,  when  our 
educational  authorities  will  be  confronted  by  the  same  prob- 
lems regarding  the  place  and  value  of  physical  training,  in 
its  various  branches,  with  which  European  educators  have 
been  so  long  engaged,  and  have  done  so  much  to  solve. 
I  am  far  from  thinking  that  such  problems  can  be  satisfac- 
torilv  solved  by  the  attempted  introduction  of  any  unmodi- 
fied foreign  system  of  gymnastics  or  athletics.  ]}ut  I  am 
firmly  convinced  that  whoever  may  be  impelled  or  compelled 
to  provide  a  remedy  for  the  present  lack  of  genuine  physical 
training  in  American  schools  and  colleges  can  readily  save 
time,  money,  and  trouble  if  they  will  only  study  the  German 
and  Swedish  svstems  of  school  gymnastics. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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